The Warren astronomical Society meets on the first Monday of the month in the auditorium of the Cranbrook Institute of Science. At the meetings, we spend the first hour or so of the meeting on club business and observing reports, then have two presentations, one short and one full-length. Main Talk: Brahe and Kepler
by Buddy Stark
Often as we learn about the history of astronomy, or any scientific endeavor, a person is remembered through the lens of the few meaningful contributions they made to the field. The name 'Galileo' primarily conjures the image of a telescope in our mind. The name 'Newton' stirs imagery of a prism or perhaps an apple. More recently, names like Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin cause us to consider the Sun. In a subtle way this becomes a reduction of the humanity of these people and does a disservice to what makes their accomplishments so extraordinary. It's easy to forget that these heroes of our past experienced the daily frustrations that you and I experience. There were days when they cried over their relationships. They grew hungry, tired, or sick. They experienced moments of self-doubt and every other facet of what it is to be human. This talk will strive to look at two well known figures in the history of astronomy, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, and paint a picture of who they were as individuals, not only through their scientific contributions, but also through the gulf of disparity between their two lived experiences.
About the Speaker
Starting in 2021 Buddy Stark has been the manager of the University of Michigan's Museum of Natural History. Before that he spent seven years managing Longway Planetarium in Flint, Michigan. He has also previously managed the planetarium at the Michigan Science Center in midtown Detroit and worked at the Strickler planetarium in Bourbonnais, Illinois. His academic background is in science education and science communication. He holds a Master's in Science Education and will be awarded his Ph.D. in the field just a couple weeks after this presentation. In his free time he enjoys woodworking and computer programming, having built several dining tables, bookshelves, and pieces of planetarium software. Short Talk: Radio Astronomy
Tom's presentation will cover galactic neutral hydrogen detection at the microwave wavelength of 21 cm. This is one of the most important methods of radio astronomy and in recent years, software and equipment advances have brought this technique within the reach of the amateur radio astronomer.
About the Speaker
Tom Hagen has been an amateur astronomer on and off since his high school years in the 1970's. Tom's a member of several astronomy groups besides WAS: McMath-Hulbert Astronomical Society, Oakland Astronomy Club, and the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers. Tom (ham radio call NE9Y) is a retired electrical engineer who worked in the automotive industry battling electrical noise issues on a car you may be driving. He lives in Rochester MI with his wife Kathy and cat Anna. In his spare time, he rides his bike across Kansas.
***
If you would like to present either a short talk (10-15 minutes) or a full-length talk (45-60 minutes) at a future meeting, please email Dale Partin at firstvp@warrenastro.org.
